THE PRESS BOX. BRIEFS.

N. Central, Fire agree on stadium use

North Central College has agreed to terms to allow the Fire to play its 2002 home season at Cardinal Stadium on the Naperville campus, the team announced Wednesday.

The agreement is contingent upon the approval of the Naperville city council, which will hold a public meeting Thursday on the team's parking and traffic management plan.

The Fire has an agreement with the Chicago Park District to return to Soldier Field for 2004 with the understanding that it will explore building its own venue.

- Fire midfielder DaMarcus Beasley was named the U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year. Beasley is the third Fire player honored, joining Josh Wolff and Chris Armas.

Bob Foltman.

Auto racing: Andy Granatelli, the Chicagoan who won the Indianapolis 500 as an owner in 1969 and as a sponsor in 1973, will be inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame along with car owner Roger Penske and broadcaster Sid Collins.

Boxing: A federal appeals court in Cincinnati threw out a jury decision that gave former heavyweight Randall "Tex" Cobb a $10.7 million libel award against Sports Illustrated and its owner, Time Inc.

College football: Jacksonville State placekicker Ashley Martin, who broke a gender barrier last season by becoming the first woman to play and score in a Division I game, is quitting the sport at the urging of her soccer coach.

Hockey: Steve Maltais scored the Wolves' first overtime goal of the season to beat the host Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 3-2.

Olympics: U.S. bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic, who said he accidentally took a banned steroid in a nutritional supplement, was knocked out of the Winter Games when an arbitration panel gave him a nine-month suspension.

Jovanovic's lawyer said he would appeal the suspension to the International Court for Arbitration in Sport, which scheduled a hearing for Salt Lake City next Wednesday, two days before the start of the Olympics.